Popular
by Ginger Glinda the Tangerine
Summary: Songfic. Angel decides to make Mark popular so he can get a girlfriend... Pretty much fluff! AngelMark friendship with slight AngelCollins and MarkCamera.


Disclaimer: I do not own RENT. Or Wicked. Otherwise Angel and Glinda would go shopping together more!

…

It was a week before Valentine's Day, raining and cold, and Angel was bored.

She was sitting on Mark and Roger's couch- well, technically she was sitting on Collins, who was sitting on the couch- watching Mark fiddling with his camera. Maureen and Joanne were practising for another crazy protest, and Roger and Mimi were downstairs in Mimi's apartment doing something Angel suspected Collins would quite like to be doing too, and would be, if it weren't for the fact that Angel was adamant that Mark was to have company at all times, being the only one of the group without a partner.

Collins stretched. "Well, not that this isn't fun, but- "

"Honey," Angel warned him. "Remember what we talked about."

"But- "

Angel placed a finger over his mouth. "Mark needs friends just as much as you do."

Mark looked up. "Uh… You guys can go if you want to, I'm… really not worried."

"See?" Collins tried to get up, but Angel stayed where she was, looking at Mark with her head on one side.

"Do you actually own another shirt?"

Mark and Collins both looked at her like she'd just sprouted antennae or something.

"What? I've just never seen you wear different clothes."

Mark looked at his red sweater, which was beginning to show its age. "I like this."

"Well, sure, honey, but they get kinda boring the ninety-fifth time you see them."

Mark turned back to his camera. "It's not like anyone's really looking."

Angel made a quiet sympathetic noise. "You know what you need?"

Collins forced back a laugh. "Oh, no. No."

"Oh, yes," Angel giggled, going over to perch on the table next to Mark.

Mark sighed. "What do I need?"

"A girlfriend!" Angel announced triumphantly.

Mark looked a little scared. "No, I'm fine. Seriously."

Angel grinned, not a little evilly. "I think you're gonna be my new project."

"Y-you really don't have to- "

"I know. But I'm bored."

"There are easier ways of relieving boredom," Collins offered pointedly.

Angel smiled. "Watch and learn, sugar." She turned to Mark and started to sing. "Whenever I see someone less fortunate than I- and let's face it," she added, looking at Collins lovingly, "Who isn't less fortunate that I- my tender heart tends to start to bleed."

She whipped away the startled Mark's scarf and raised an eyebrow at it.

"And when someone needs a makeover," she continued, fluffing at Mark's hair, "I simply have to take over- I know I know exactly what they need!"

Angel stepped back and looked at her victim, who finger-combed his hair nervously. "Is this going to take long?"

"And even in your case, though it's the toughest case I've yet to face," she cooed, ignoring him and passing the scarf to Collins, "Don't worry, I'm determined to succeed!"

Mark turned to reach for his camera, but Angel darted over and plucked it off the table.

"Follow my lead," she sang, deftly keeping the camera out of Mark's reach, "and yes, indeed, you will be…"

She put the camera on the kitchen counter and turned to face Mark.

"Popular- you're gonna be popular!" She skipped over to him and took his glasses, despite his protest. "I'll teach you how not to hurl when you talk to girls, little ways to flirt and flounce- "

She looked over at Collins, who was dying of laughter, but she was having too much fun to find it adorable.

"I'll show you what shoes to wear, how to fix that… uh, hair, everything that really counts to be popular…"

Angel undid Mark's top button and rearranged his collar.

"I'll help you be popular," she assured him, considering his squint thoughtfully. "You'll hang with the right cohorts, you'll be good at sports- "

"Him?" Collins managed. Angel nodded eagerly.

"- know the slang you've got to know…" She paused, realising her hands were still resting on Mark's chest, and he was turning interesting shades of red. She shrugged and handed back his glasses.

"So let's start," she trilled, "Cuz you've got an awfully long way to go."

Mark slipped his glasses back on and fiddled with his shirt collar. "Angel…"

She sighed. "Don't be offended by me frank analysis, think of it as personality dialysis!"

She hugged his excitedly. "Now that I've decided to become a pal, a sister and advisor, there's nobody wiser- "

"Angel, I- "

"Not," Angel belted over Mark's interruptions, "When it comes to popular!"

She dragged him into the middle of the floor so she could get a better look at his clothes.

"I know about popular," she continued, trying hard not to admire his butt, which in the right kind of pants could be oh so cute.

"And with an assist from me to be who you'll be, instead of dreary who you were- "

"Are," Collins put in. Mark glared at him.

"There's nothing that can stop you from becoming popular!" Angel finished, striking a little pose.

"Lar," Collins corrected her, pronouncing the "a" so it rhymed with his previous addition.

"You have to make things difficult," Angel pouted, mock-sulking.

"Uh… Are we done here?" Mark asked, looking longingly at his camera.

"You're no fun," Angel complained, flopping back on the couch.

Mark shrugged, and Angel poked her tongue out at him.

The door opened to reveal Roger and Mimi, both laughing hysterically at something. Angel gave Mimi a quizzical look as the dancer settled on the arm of the couch and looked evilly at Mark.

"We were just thinking how much fun it would be to get Mark a girlfriend…"

…

I didn't want to do the whole song, cuz I thought it might get boring… Or Angel might offer to be Mark's girlfriend, or something…

_Anyways. Review please! Thank you!_


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